Dallas Stars Blog

Need for power play success will force Stars coaches to study all sorts of options _ and all sorts of mental pressure

Maybe the toughest job for the Stars players and coaches this season regarding the team’s power play will be simply handling all of the talk about it and the pressure surrounding it.

The Stars had the worst power play in team history last season with 33 goals (30th in the league) and 13.5 percent success rate (30th in the league), so it has come up in conversation every day for the past six months.

“That’s an understatement,’’ said Stars head coach Glen Gulutzan.

The Stars have been working the past two days with mixed results. For the third period of their scrimmage on Tuesday, they went against the team’s penalty killers and struggled mightily. On Wednesday, they ran through practice against no defense and stressed simplicity and repetition.

They also made a couple of changes that granted fans some insight into what they are thinking.

On Wednesday, the coaches moved Alex Goligoski off the first unit and moved Derek Roy onto the left point. The move is needed because the three forwards on the first unit (Brenden Morrow, Ray Whitney and Jaromir Jagr) are all wingers, and there was nobody to take faceoffs. Roy will take faceoffs if this unit sticks, and then move back to the point after the draw. Ray Whitney can take faceoffs on the right side of the ice, and he also can play some point, so the two could flip at times.

On the second unit, Vernon Fiddler was moved into the center spot with Loui Eriksson and Michael Ryder on the wings, while Goligoski and Trevor Daley manned the points. Fiddler was selected for his ability to win faceoffs and create good screens in front of the goalie.

“Faceoffs and net presence,’’ said assistant coach Curt Fraser, who has been tasked with leading the man advantage this season. “That’s something he can definitely help us with.’’

Faceoffs are going to be a buzzword for the Stars. Last season, Mike Ribeiro took the second most power play faceoffs at 129 and won just 42.6 percent. Jamie Benn took 96 power play faceoffs and won 44.8 percent. That meant Steve Ott had to play a ton of power play time because he could win draws (55.7 percent on 147 power play faceoffs). Now that Ott and Ribeiro have been traded away, the Stars have to restructure that part of their game.

“Faceoffs are going to be an issue for us, regardless. That’s the reality,’’ Gulutzan said. “It’s real hard, because faceoffs are an art, and if you don’t have artists, then you have to find another way. You have to have a game plan.’’

The Stars say that game plan is getting the right guy on the draw and winning with the rest of the forwards. Roy is a 50 percent guy in his career, while Vernon Fiddler hits around 53 percent. Benn is a project, because he’s a converted winger, but Cody Eakin has been above 50 percent in the minors and could improve with NHL seasoning. Losing Ott will be huge, but not having Ribeiro take draws will actually help.

Fiddler said he’s excited about the possibility of helping out the power play. He has turned into a gritty checker who doesn’t get to show his offensive prowess much (8G, 13A for 21 pts in 82 games last season)

“I have played it before,’’ said Fiddler, normally a key penalty killer. “It’s just whatever they tell me to do, I want to do it to help the team. I just want to contribute and help our team win.’’

Gulutzan said he expects Fiddler to play a very simple game on the power play.

“We don’t want him handling the puck on the power play,’’ Gulutzan said. “He’s going to win faceoffs, help win puck battles, and then get back to the front of the net. It’s a pretty simple job description, but all of us think he is built for it.’’

And, of course, all of that changes when Jamie Benn is signed. Bottom line, the coaches will adapt and try to get Benn more power play time. He averaged just 2:17 in power play time last season, fifth among forwards.

That said, Gulutzan and Fraser expect to change a few things. Gulutzan last season wanted two balanced power play units that competed with each other for success _ something that had worked for him in the minors. This season, he will likely mix and match more, looking for the right chemistry.

“I don’t think we will have a `first’ unit,’’ he said. “There’s an evolving dynamic going on there, so I don’t think you will see set in stone power play units. But I think what you will see is we have `set in position’ power play units. So if we intermix parts for faceoffs or whatever, you’re going to know what your job is. It’s `I’m the rover,’ or `I’m the half wall guy,’ or `I’m the net guy’ or `I’m the flank guy.’ So they get to learn those positions, and now we can take pieces in and out.’’

That will be especially important if Benn is with the team to start the season.

And even if he’s not on hand, the Stars still have some nice pieces. Jagr is one of the great power play players of all time. Whitney is a smart presence who can score in different ways, and Eriksson and Ryder were probably the team’s two best power play players last season.

Captain Brenden Morrow, who is expected to contribute a net presence now that he is healthy, said he’s excited about the talent on hand.

“There’s about four No. 1 options we have right now,’’ he said. “Jags with his size and reach and strength, he can just bring defenders to him. And then you’ve got Roy and Whitney buzzing around, and with their hockey sense, and they’ll find the open places. And when Jamie comes back, they’ll find a spot for him. That’s not a bad problem for Gully to have.’’

Much of the work Wednesday was on simple play, and Morrow said the team has to do that with a shortened training camp and a 48-game season.

“We don’t really have time to work on it, so keeping it simple is important,’’ he said. “It has to be a shooting power play first. Last year, we tried to slow it down, but we have to get the puck to the net.’’

When asked about the importance of breakout drills, which took up much of the practice time Wednesday, Morrow said the breakout and winning faceoffs are key.

“That’s 30 seconds right there if you can’t get the breakout down,’’ he said. “And then, once you get in, your creativity and your hockey IQ can take over from there.’’

So can the Stars improve on the power play? They really don’t have much choice, because it will be talked about every day and it will probably be changed every day.

“Until we get things rolling, we’re going to have to move things around,’’ Fraser said. “You never know when the big guy (Benn) is coming back, but I do think we have good guys here and I think we have a lot of positive options here.’’